June 10, 2010

SAN BRUNO, Calif. --- Highlighted by seven selections in the first 10 rounds, the West Coast Conference had a record total of 31 student-athletes selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The WCC had 24 players taken in 2009, 21 in 2008 and a then-conference record of 27 in 2007.

The first five WCC players selected were pitchers, as Sammy Solis of San Diego went in the second round to the Washington Nationals, 2010 WCC Pitcher of the Year Kyle Blair was picked in the fourth round by the Cleveland Indians, Cole Cook of Pepperdine was selected in the fifth round by the Indians, San Diego's Matt Hauser was taken in the seventh round by the Minnesota Twins and San Diego's Zach Walters was picked up in the ninth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gonzaga's Drew Heid was the first WCC position player taken when he was selected in the ninth round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

In addition to Blair's selection, 2010 WCC Player of the Year James Meador of San Diego went to the Detroit Tigers in the 21st round and 2010 WCC Defensive Player of the Year Rocky Gale of Portland was chosen by the San Diego Padres in the 24th round.

The University of San Diego, which won the 2010 WCC title with a 19-2 conference record, had 10 of the 31 selections while Santa Clara and San Francisco were next with four apiece.

Round (Pick) Player (School) Team

2 (51) Sammy Solis (San Diego) Washington Nationals

4 (120) Kyle Blair (San Diego) Cleveland Indians

5 (150) Cole Cook (Pepperdine) Cleveland Indians

7 (208) Matt Bywater (Pepperdine) Baltimore Orioles

7 (225) Matt Hauser (San Diego) Minnesota Twins

9 (294) Drew Heid (Gonzaga) L.A. Angels of Anaheim

11 (355) Zach Varce (Portland) New York Yankees

12 (365) Matt Thomson (San Diego) Oakland Athletics

13 (395) AJ Griffin (San Diego) Oakland Athletics

14 (424) Tommy Medica (Santa Clara) San Diego Padres

14 (440) Taylor Reid (Saint Mary's) Colorado Rockies

15 (469) Geoff Klein (Santa Clara) St. Louis Cardinals

16 (491) Nate Garcia (Santa Clara) Tampa Bay Rays

19 (578) Doug Murray (San Francisco) Chicago White Sox

20 (615) Cody Martin (Gonzaga) Minnesota Twins

20 (625) Mike Ferraro (San Diego) New York Yankees

21 (643) James Meador (San Diego) Detroit Tigers

22 (671) Matt Koch (LMU) Tampa Bay Rays

24 (724) Rocky Gale (Portland) San Diego Padres

24 (725) Ryan Lipkin (San Francisco) Oakland Athletics

26 (799) Victor Sanchez (San Diego) St. Louis Cardinals

27 (835) Martin Viramontes (LMU) New York Yankees

30 (912) Derek Poppert (San Francisco) Seattle Mariners

34 (1024) Xavier Esquivel (LMU) San Diego Padres

36 (1091) Robert Dickmann (Pepperdine) Tampa Bay Rays

36 (1105) Nick McCoy (San Diego) New York Yankees

39 (1169) Alex Rivers (Santa Clara) Kansas City Royals

40 (1206) Brandon Berl (Saint Mary's) Toronto Blue Jays

44 (1328) Matthew Chavez (San Francisco) Chicago White Sox

48 (1438) Alex Schmarzo (Saint Mary's) Baltimore Orioles